Netanyahu ally says Herzog and Trump could guarantee unity government agreement

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wants to form a unity government, Dimona Mayor Benny Biton told Kan News on Sunday, November 1. Biton, a close associate of Netanyahu, said President Isaac Herzog and US President Donald Trump would act as guarantors to reassure the opposition that such a government would hold.

Biton said he had spoken with Herzog on Saturday. In describing the proposed guarantees, he identified Gadi Eisenkot, the head of Yashar, as the person who would receive assurances from the two presidents. His remarks presented presidential backing as a way to address opposition concerns about the durability of a unity arrangement.

Explaining his position, Biton said he trusted Israel's president to provide that guarantee. He added that, for those who did not share that confidence, he also trusted the US president, invoking the United States' standing as the world's greatest superpower in support of that assurance.

Alongside his appeal for unity, Biton warned the opposition against trying to remove Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana before a coalition had been established. He described such an attempt as a “declaration of war,” drawing a distinction between a jointly agreed choice of speaker and a replacement pursued unilaterally.

Biton said there would be no difficulty in agreeing on a Knesset speaker through a process accepted by everyone. His objection, he explained, was to unilateral parliamentary action by the opposition, which he called a “red line.” The warning accompanied his account of Netanyahu's interest in a unity government.

Likud also reportedly conveyed a warning to members of the opposition bloc about Ohana's position. According to that message, replacing the speaker with backing from Arab parties would undermine the possibility of establishing a national unity government in the future.

Biton argued that failure to reach a unity agreement would lead to another election. In his assessment, neither political bloc would be able to assemble a government under any circumstances, leaving a shared administration as the alternative to a further vote.

He also addressed the possibility that the opposition might nevertheless establish a government without Likud. Biton predicted that any such administration would be short-lived, insisting it would not survive for more than six months.